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1) The Story Behind the Music
Prakash Pandya
Ever since I was a small child, music has fascinated me.
Growing up with a love for music not only further fuelled my
continued involvement in a youth choir, but my determination
to enter this contest and show people why I love to sing.
The joy being in a choir gives me is illustrated in these words. I
hope after you read this, you too will have the same enthusiasm
and devotion that make music music, a choir a choir, and
a singer a singer.
Being an active chorister for the last three years of my existence
has been a life altering experience. Why? Not only the
radical difference in my view of choirs, but the way I now look
at music has changed. Music now flows inside my head 24/7
an acquired ability which comes as a direct result of being in
a choir. No doubt I’ve been asked . . . why sing? Some of my
friends ask me that. “Well who wouldn’t want to get in front
of people and make their day, by doing what you love to do?”
is always my answer. “Being on stage with friends and singing
in unison is a feeling like none other,” I tell them. I believe that
being in a choir is an experience which benefits a person’s
inner self as well as their musical ability. I’ve seen people I’ve
known all my life change after singing. The tranquillity of
young voices, the silence after a song, the overwhelming result
of children singing harmony… it can do marvellous things. I
remember the first time I sang in front of an audience… the
adrenaline rush you get when you know your making music is
better than anything.
I believe our world could be a better place if we all took a
moment to stop and listen to the music which surrounds us.
Singing in a choir seems to slow time down. You’re able to see
the little things which people no longer take anytime to notice.
This is a quality that I wish more people could posses; the
ability to stop and just listen. Being in a choir provides many
premium opportunities of this sort. The ability to be able to
do this, stop and listen, makes all the hard work and practise
worth it. All these things… they inspire me to continue to sing
and let my voice and my soul soar high.

2) My Life as a Chorister
Jonathan Michael Pusong
It’s been four years now since I joined the St. Michael’s Choir
School and I never realized how much my life would change. It
opened an entirely new world for me. The wonderful world of
a chorister. A lot of my friends have asked me why I like singing
in a choir. Several things have inspired me to be a chorister.
Being in a choir gives me the opportunity to sing in front of
an audience whether it be in a big concert hall or in a solemn
place like a church. I get to study and learn how to sing music
from different eras as well as learn them in different languages.
And to top it all, I get the chance to travel to different places
and meet different people from different cultures.
However, it’s not just about singing. Being in a choir also
teaches me teamwork and self-discipline. When I first joined
the choir school, I had no idea how things were going to be
like. I never thought it would be a very significant part of my
daily life. Before I started singing with a choir, I never really
cared much about singing. I had other things to worry about
like school and other stuff boys my age do, like playing with
my favorite video or computer games. But now that I’m in a
choir I realized that singing in a group is not only inspiring but
it can also contribute to your self-development. Singing in a
choir helps me manage my time wisely since I need to focus
not only on learning several songs with my fellow choristers,
but I also need to have time for my academic studies. Not to
mention, I also have to do well on my piano lessons.
One day I said to myself, “I have been gifted with a talent that
not everyone has and I shouldn’t waste it. I should learn to
put in all my best effort every time I sing.” Since that day, I’ve
been singing with all my heart. As time goes by, I learn to have
a better appreciation of music, especially the liturgical and
sacred music that our choir sings in church.

As a chorister, I’ve learned that you can’t become a master at
something all on your own. And that includes singing. You need
a mentor to help and teach you. That’s where our conductor
and vocal teacher come in. Our voice teacher trains us on the
proper use of our voice so we don’t strain it when we are singing
while our conductor teaches us how to blend our different
voices to come out with the perfect harmony and sound. They
really help us to really develop our talents. A lot of people don’t
know it but singing isn’t just opening your mouth and letting
music come out. When you sing you don’t only think about
how you’re going to sound, but you also have to think about
things like dynamics and the tempo of the song. Learning these
can make a chorister experience fun and interesting.
Being in a choir also taught me that when you sing you’re
actually praising God in your own special way. So when our
choir sings in church or at a concert or even to patients in a
hospital to cheer them up, I know that God will be pleased
because I am not only using the talent He gave me to sing him
praise but I am also sharing it with other people.
A lot of my relatives on both my parent’s side also sing, so
it was only natural that I become inspired to be a singer too.
However, singing in front of many people can be a frightening
experience for most kids. I am no exception to that. Being in a
choir has helped me gain more confidence and has helped me
cope up with stage fright. So far, I’ve already sung solo twice,
and I don’t think that would have been possible if not for the
experience and confidence I gained singing in a choir. Looking
back, there are many things that truly inspire me to sing in a
choir, but what’s most satisfying for me is that I enjoy being a
chorister and I treasure the bond and friendship I shared with
my fellow choristers.

3) Singing—An Inspiration
Lucas Fernando Di Fiore
What inspires me to sing in a choir is quite simply my love,
passion, and interest in choral music. I have rooted an interest
in singing and in joining a choir since I was seven years old, and
once I discovered our elementary school was going to have
a choir, my heart immediately filled with bliss. It was finally
a chance for me to express my voice to new heights which I
have always have had a pleasure to do.
Another thing that inspired me to sing in our choir was the
opportunity to sing with the most magnanimous vocal
expressers in the school. Singing in my class with my peers
wasn’t quite reaching my total satisfaction since some don’t
have the musical ear, and it is hard to grasp the concept of
singing when some notes are completely off tempo and beat.
Singing in a choir is a privilege for me and a way to have fun by
expressing my voice.
Another aspect of what inspired me to join is to learn how to
better develop my singing voice above and beyond my normal
standards. To sing in a better pitched tone (in harmony), to
learn new songs such as the ones our choir sang at a music festival
(On the Back Of An Eagle and I Love The Mountains), and
to obtain the satisfaction of singing in a musical group. Our
music teacher/composer encourages us and makes sure we do
all these aspects, learn the basics of singing and other more
complex vocal skills, and develop the best tone we can achieve.
Her character and sparkling personality are a big reason of what
inspired me to join and continue to progress.
Another part of why I joined is to enjoy the camaraderie with
my friends and other members of our corral ensemble within
the pleasure of music and singing.
Travelling out with the choir and participating in festivals and
contests makes it all the sweeter because the thrill of competition
provides me with both a sense of what other choirs
sound like and how one can learn and benefit from them. It
is also a great honour to go up and sing our songs in front of
large crowds and then hearing the applause at the end is very inspirational and makes us realize that our practice, determination, and alent have finally paid off. It is also of benefit to our choir and ourselves o experience these competitions and festivals because we see our results, nd the constructive criticism the adjudicator has to expresses helps mprove our voices and overall performance for the months/years to come. I was and still am inspired by the musical world and how beautiful music an be. Just hearing the voices of people makes me want to express my voice and match that talent and intensity that other musicians, artists, and composers have. For example, the symphonies of Beethoven and
the music of Chris Brown, a hip hop and soul artist, all inspire me to get up and sing proudly in a choir and represent my school.
In closing, I would like to make an observation that Chris Brown, one of my favourite singers, took church choir when he was my age
and, therefore, probably sang some of the same songs we sing in our choir today. He grew up liking all kinds of music and developed some of his voice in a choir, and now people all over the world enjoy his music. He is definitely very inspirational to me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this composition to and understand my thoughts on what inspires me to sing in a choir.